


Sappho on the breast of Venus

by shopfront



Category: Defying Gravity (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Pre-Relationship, friends turned lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-23
Updated: 2009-12-23
Packaged: 2017-10-05 02:20:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/36737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shopfront/pseuds/shopfront
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jen and Zoe were everything to each other right from the beginning, but everything really began to kick off post-eagle. They were in love before they were lovers. Pre-relationship Jen/Zoe, post-eagle and pre-Antares.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sappho on the breast of Venus

**Author's Note:**

  * For [docwho2100](https://archiveofourown.org/users/docwho2100/gifts).



> docwho2100, you said you were happy with friendship or femslash, and this really walks the line between the two so I hope you enjoy this. I was one of the many pinch-hitters this year so I'm afraid I didn't have a chance to seek out more details on what you'd like to read, so I really hope this suits you and you have a great yuletide. Happy holidays!

"Hey! Are you there yet, is everything all right?" Jen couldn't keep back the grin that had spread across her face when she read 'Zoe Barnes calling', despite the concern threaded through her voice. It was too early, too soon, for Zoe to have arrived; something might be wrong. "Or are they running late, are you going to miss your pick-up?"

Zoe's sweet laughter flooded the line, and Jen felt her shoulders immediable unknot.

"You worry too much," Zoe said, still chuckling under her breath.

"You weren't meant to get there for, wait-" Jen spun her chair around to check the time and shook her head, "at least another twenty minutes. Of course I'm a little worried that you're calling to tell me something has gone wrong."

"If you're not careful, your face is going to be riddled with craggy stress lines before you hit forty."

Laughter escaped Jen in a sharp, surprised burst. "Well at least no one will doubt whether I care about them. It'll be all over in face in plain sight, unlike you, who'll probably still look like a perfect porcelain doll when you're old enough to be admitted to a nursing home."

"Then I'll have to be the ageless freak, and you'll be the hideous old hag, and between us we'll make something approaching a normal looking person. We'll just have to perfect the science of merging two people into one body before then."

"Right. Just a small task of minor scientific importance in what is a relatively short time period in which to uncover revolutionary new discoveries then?"

"Exactly, just a minor detail to iron out between us now, and us enjoying a happy, normal retirement together," Zoe said, and they both laughed. Jen kicked back in her chair and got comfortable, ready to relish the pleasure of talking to Zoe. She'd spent the day missing Zoe and wondering how her trip was going, however ridiculous it was to miss the idea of someone when they'd only been gone less than a day.

"So, if you haven't crashed or broken down or been left at the wrong station, then where are you?"

"I'm just inside the building where I'm meant to collect my luggage actually, we arrived a little early so I thought I'd call as soon as I disembarked."

"And you didn't think getting your bags was the first thing you should do?"

"Nope. You were the last person I said goodbye to, so I thought it was nicely symmetrical that talking to you was the first thing I did after I arrived."

"Symmetry, huh? Is that your new thing then?"

"Absolutely. My post-eagle life is going to be full of balance. I decided that on the train."

"Sounds like you put a lot of thought into that."

"You'd be amazed how long it takes to make serious decisions about personal life philosophies when you're stuck in a long, seated journey and you have a very large, very painful new tattoo on your back."

"Aah, so perhaps you're agreeing with Donner now? That the tattoo wasn't exactly a smart, considered decision, I mean."

"Not at all! I just kept wishing that post-eagle included having kidnapped you and taken you with me so you could have distracted me from my tiny, minor problem of seering agony."

"I could have told witty jokes, and then the slightly smaller pain of your laughter making the skin on your back move could have distracted you from the somewhat bigger seering agony?"

"Exactly. Or I could have just made you sit on the floor so I could lie on my stomach across both of our seats."

"Or that, that might have worked, too."

"That's what I thought."

"You could have called, you know," she said after a short pause.

"I know, but it was a long trip. I figured your patience didn't need that sort of test."

Jen's mouth dropped open but she sat silent, stunning. "Zoe-"

"I know, it wouldn't have been a problem," Zoe cut her off. "But I wanted to get through on my own. Post-eagle, you know?"

If they'd been pre-eagle, Zoe would have been in front of her instead on the other end of a phone, and she'd have fidgeted a lot while Jen searched for the right words - because Jen didn't know what to say to that.

"I was fine, I promise," Zoe rushed to reassure her when she couldn't find the words fast enough.

"Right," Jen said sharply, floundering a little. "I just… I don't know, I just wished you'd called if you needed me."

"It's not that I don't need you," Zoe said quietly. "I do, Jen. I promise you're post-eagle, I don't know what I'd do if you weren't."

"Well, okay then." She nodded to herself. "Good. As long as you weren't calling because you thought you couldn't."

"It wasn't that at all."

"I'm glad."

The bustling noises in the background of the call were increasing. Jen could hear louder voices, and the occasional speaker sounding out announcements in the same old incomprehensible grainy public announcement style voice that nobody could ever understand.

"The rest of the passengers seem to be catching up with me," Zoe said at last, and Jen resisted the urge to sigh.

"You must have gotten off that train pretty quickly, huh."

"You know how it is: no hand luggage, a desperate need to call your best friend."

Jen's mouth quirked a little. "I miss you," she said, quietly, tears clouding over her vision.

"I miss you already, too," Zoe said. "You should come visit soon."

"I should, I could help you get settled. You clearly can't be trusted to pick out your own apartment."

"Absolutely not, I'll be lost without you," Zoe said, her voice cracking a little at the end.

"Give me a couple of days and I'm all yours."

"Okay, just tell me when you'll get in here and I'll meet you. Anytime."

"Will do. Now go get your luggage already, before you end up queueing behind every other passenger in the United States or something."

Jen hopped onto her bed after ending the call, letting herself fall backwards into the pillows and her body go slack with a sigh. She'd been tense and irritable ever since she'd had to hug Zoe goodbye and let go of her so she'd could walk out of that door, and then found that the niggling thought at the back of her head that she was also walking out of all their lives remained. Even after their talk in the tattoo parlour, and despite the warmth in Zoe's eyes as she'd reassured her that Jen was definitely classed as post-eagle, she'd fretted that Zoe was going to be gone for good.

But hearing her voice again had caused something inside her to release, and she felt sure of their friendship, again. They were post-eagle, and they were always; they'd be making old folk home jokes together when they were in an old folks home.

Zoe wasn't going to be lost to her, not if either of them had anything to do with it.

*** * ***

A flash of Zoe's smiling face was the first thing she saw as she exited the terminal, and then her face was full of flying blonde hair and Zoe was hugging her so tight that she couldn't breathe. But she wasn't complaining, instead she was busy trying to drop her bags without crushing their feet so that she could wrap her arms around Zoe just as tightly.

"You have no idea how good it is to see you," Zoe said, her voice muffled in Jen's shoulder. Jen just buried her face in Zoe's neck and breathed in the smell of her shampoo and laughed helplessly.

"I might," she replied as they finally pulled apart, and wiped at her eyes. "It's only been a week and you're already a sight for sore eyes."

"So are you," Zoe said, and brushed a stray tear from Jen's eye, her own unusually shiny. "Here, let me take one of your bags."

"Oh," Jen said, and hopped back a step to grab one herself. "Thanks."

"No problem," Zoe said. Then she hooked a bag over her shoulder and linked her free arm with Jen's, nearly pulling her along when she started walking. "The bus stop is just up here, then it's a pretty short trip to my place."

"Your place?" Jen said and stopped. Zoe nearly pulled completely away before she realised Jen wasn't with her, but she paused just in time to keep ahold of Jen's hand while she looked back, her expression sheepish.

"I know I said I'd wait so you could help me apartment hunt, but there was this great place. You're going to love it-"

"I am, am I?" A smile quirked at Jen's lips even though she tried to force it down and look stern, but Zoe caught the twitching of her mouth and shrugged her shoulder with a grin.

"It's bright and airy and it has this glorious view, and they were looking to fill it quickly so I didn't want to risk losing it. You're going to love it, and love helping me decorate it tomorrow, I promise. And even better, I haven't seen a single eagle there yet."

Jen snorted and started walking again, leaning into Zoe as she pulled level with her so she could bump their shoulders together yet, and then staying close as they continued down the street.

"I suppose eagles in a post-eagle world would be a bad sign then?"

"Hey, don't laugh," Zoe bumped her back. "So far eagles have been a false good luck symbol, and post-eagle Zoe has no time for false promises."

They walked the rest of the way to the bus stop in companionable silence, but everytime Jen looked over she marvelled at how bright Zoe's smile looked, at how happy she was. There was no way she could have been this strong if she'd been the one cut from the program, but Zoe seemed like she was flourishing.

"So post-eagle life is going well then?" Jen worked up the nerve to ask when they reached the stop.

Zoe dumped the bag she was carrying on the bus stop seat, and placed her hands on Jen's shoulders, squeezing them gently with her hands as she looked Jen in the eye.

"Honestly? I won't lie and say I didn't wish I was still in the program, but it's not so bad. But really, it's just better now that you're here."

Jen reached over and cupped Zoe's face with her hand, smiling gently.

"I'm better now that I'm here, too."

They both startled when the bus pulled up a moment later. Zoe lunged for the bag she'd put down, and then hurried onto the bus ahead of Jen to buy their tickets. Jen followed a littler slower, enjoying being able to simply take in the sight of Zoe.

"So how do you feel about Indian for dinner?" Zoe beamed at her as the bus lurched into motion.

"It sounds great," Jen said with feeling.

*** * ***

"Mmmm," Jen moaned happily from where she was sprawled on the rug. "That was fantastic. I'm craving something sweet to finish it off, but I'm a little worried I might explode."

"Careful," Zoe giggled, and reached over to rub Jen's belly. "I like that rug."

"Hey!" Jen swatted at her hand even as she laughed back. "I'm not a buddha here."

Zoe trailed her fingers down Jen's side as she complied, flickering them just enough to make Jen shriek and recoil, before pulling away completely.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did that tickle?" she asked, eyes wide and blinking.

"I'll give you tickling," Jen growled, and then it was on - at least for a few seconds, before she groaned and curled over, leaning her head on Zoe's shoulder. "For the love of god, please don't ever let me eat that much food ever again."

"Never ever," Zoe snickered. "I promise."

"Good, because I'm dying here," Jen said, and her voice muffled by the material of Zoe's shirt but she no inclination to move: especially not with the way her stomach was rolling. Zoe just hummed happily, and began stroking Jen's hair, her other hand flung across Jen's waist.

"Maybe if you just stay here and don't move for a while, it'll pass."

"This rug is comfortable enough to sleep on, at least," Jen said, raising her head long enough to be heard, before dropping it back down again.

"I should hope so, I've been sleeping on it since I moved in. I have yet to work out how to assemble my bed frame, and my mattress has been delayed for who honestly knows what reason."

"Wait," Jen said, and struggled to roll over so they were face to face. "Are you telling me you only have a single rug to offer for sleeping arrangements and you're only now telling me?"

Zoe rolled her eyes. "Come on, it's not that bad. You just said yourself, it is a very comfortable rug."

"I suppose," Jen grumbled, but Zoe didn't look like she believed Jen's put upon tone was real. Which of course it wasn't, because a week alone had left Jen happy to sleep on cold, hard zone just to see Zoe again, if she was honest with herself.

"Stop talking and close your eyes," Zoe said and slipped a hand up between them to brush across Jen's eyelids, so that she had no choice but to shut her eyes. "You need to rest and relax until your stomach stops punishing you."

"Oh I do, do I?"

"Yes, you do," Zoe said, then she shifted around a little and tutted when Jen began to open her eyes and watch her.

"I can't help being curious, I'm a scientist, you should understand that," Jen protested, but Zoe's fingers returned across her eyes when until she obeyed.

"Just rest already," she insisted as she settled, one arm laid out millimetres from Jen's, with their pinkies linked together. "I'll tell you all about the rest of my week while you recover from our ridiculous dinner."

"I can't believe I'm the only one feeling ill after all of that."

"Okay then, after _we_ recover from our ridiculous dinner then," Zoe said huffily, and then she proceeded to rattle off every last tiny detail she remembered about the previous three days.

Her voice faded away a little after a while, and Jen just drifted in the sound of Zoe's voice, and the feel of her close by. At one point she opened her eyes and leaned over, resting her head against Zoe's and looking into her eyes, both their hands tangled together.

"I'm really glad I'm post-eagle, Zoe."

"I'd die if it was any other way," Zoe whispered back, and titled her face up to press a gentle kiss to Jen's lips. Jen blinked in surprise, but Zoe's smile didn't waver, and she didn't repeat the gesture so they simply laid there for the rest of the night. Eventually they drifted off, waking periodically to find themselves tangled in new ways, but always close, and always face to face.

In the morning Jen leaned forward and chastely kissed Zoe awake with one hand tangled in her hair, and Jen silently promised her that they'd love and be together forever. They'd never lose each other, not for anything.


End file.
